Essays on trans, intersex, cis and other persons and topics from a trans perspective.......All human life is here.

This site is the most comprehensive on the web devoted to trans history and biography. Well over 1400 persons worthy of note, both famous and obscure, are discussed in detail, and many more are mentioned in passing.)

There is a detailedIndexarranged by vocation, doctor, activist group etc.

In addition to this most articles have one or more labels at the bottom. Click one to go to similar persons. There is a full list of labels at the bottom of the page. There is also a search box at the top left. Enjoy exploring!

Archives
The University of Ulster Trans-Gender Archive, which contained donations from many British trans persons, is no more.

It had been maintained by Richard Ekins since its founding in 1986, but was never inventoried. After he retired Ekins offered the collection to the London School of Economics’ LGBT Hall-Carpenter Archives, but was told it would not be accepted because of a lack of an inventory listing what it contained. They also insisted that they would need him to get rid of any items subject to copyright or containing personal information like addresses. Ekins actually starting destroying content under this imperative, but did not get to a position when the Hall-Carpenter Archives would accept the collection. Apparently other possible UK sites were not consulted.

Muhammed Ahmed Abdullah, Yahya Ahmed & Zeeshan Basharat. Sex, Disease and Confusions among Pakistan's Transgenders: A Cross-sectional Study. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2013. "The hijra(Transgender)community in Pakistan are at a great risk of both contracting and spreading many
sexually transmitted diseases. Once held in high esteem, these
caretakers of the king's harem are now socially excluded from many
mainstream social activities. The present study looks into the
knowledge, attitudes and practices of this community regarding various
sexually transmitted infections."

Ryka Aoki. Seasonal Velocities.Trans-Genre Press, 2012. "Ryka Aoki has challenged, informed, and shared with queer audiences across the United States. Seasonal Velocities was honored as a 2013 Lambda Award Finalist."

$£¥ € Howard Chiang. Transgender China. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Chiang is Professor of Modern Chinese History at the University of Warwick. "This book has an impressive breadth in both historical reach and the
cultural forms addressed. From historical investigations of androgyny in
classical ethics and religion, eunuchism, and literary and theatrical
cross-dressing to critical analyses of trans representations in
contemporary popular film and the trans pride movement in Hong Kong, the
collection is both intellectually exciting and politically engaged."

Laura Erickson-Schroth (ed). Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community
. Oxford University Press, 2014. " Inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves, the classic and powerful compendium written for and by women, Trans Bodies, TransSelves is
widely accessible to the transgender population, providing
authoritative information in an inclusive and respectful way and
representing the collective knowledge base of dozens of influential
experts. Each chapter takes the reader through an important transgender
issue, such as race, religion, employment, medical and surgical
transition, mental health topics, relationships, sexuality, parenthood,
arts and culture, and many more."

Marcus Greatheart. Transforming Practice: Life Stories of Transgender Men that Change How Health Providers Work. Ethica Press, 2013. "Despite the challenges the men describe having positive, even
enjoyable, transition experiences while demonstrating resilience and
self-efficacy. Coping strategies and impacts on mental health and
substance use are discussed, as well as implications for mental health
practice."

Darryl B. Hill. Trans Toronto: An Oral History. Lulu, 2012. Review. An exercise in post-modernism, with a small amount of history.

Ogi Ogas & Sai Gaddam. A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships
. Plume, 2012. "Men are aroused by visual cues, according to the
authors, and many trans women possess two cues that men find
particularly stimulating: traditional femininity and, often, the penis."

Anna Morcom. Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance: Cultures of Exclusion.
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 2013. "Until the 1930s no woman could
perform in public and retain respectability in India. Professional
female performers were courtesans and dancing girls who lived beyond the
confines of marriage, but were often powerful figures in social and
cultural life. Women's roles were often also taken by boys and men, some
of whom were simply female impersonators, others transgender."

Jo Barraclough Paoletti. Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012. "When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue? - She chronicles the decline of the white dress for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers in the early 20th century, the gendering of
pink and blue, the resurgence of unisex fashions, and the origins of
today's highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing."

Alissa Quart. Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers and Rebels. The New Press, 2013. Discusses trans persons among others.

Amanda Lock Swarr. Sex in Transition: Remaking Gender & Race in South Africa. State University of New York Press, 2012. "Argues that South Africa's apartheid system of racial segregation
relied on an unexamined but interrelated system of sexed oppression that
was at once both rigid and flexible. ... It examines issues including why transsexuals' sex transitions were encouraged under apartheid and illegal during the political transition to democracy and how butch lesbians and drag queens in urban
townships reshape race and gender."

Sakhi Bhava. Transgender Spirituality: Man into Goddess.
CreateSpace, 2012. "This book presents a historical survey of
male transgenderism in spiritual life - including biographies of
well-known figures who used their crossed-sex identification as
vehicles for worship and self-discovery. It also discusses ways for
the transgender male to turn his yearning for sexual transformation
into a powerful tool for spiritual transformation - to turn what may
be seen by some as a curse or abnormality into a blessing." Although such expected trans persons as Rachel Pollack and Cathryn Platine are not mentioned.

Ryka
Aoki. Seasonal Velocities.
Trans-Genre Press, 2012. Aoki is a writer, performer, musician, and educator who appears in the
documentaries "Diagnosing Difference" and "Riot Acts." Her work is
featured in Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation and Tranfeminist Perspectives.

Megan
Chavalier. X-Rated:
The True Story Of Transsexual Adult Film Superstar Meghan Chavalier.
Amazon Digital Services, 2013. No longer available on Amazon.

Ronald
Cohn & Jesse Russell. Havelock Ellis.
VSD, 2013.

Lovemme
Corazón. Trauma Queen.
Biyuti publishing, 2013.

Molly
Cutpurse. The Tragic and Transgendered World of Margaret Allen.
Lilith Books, 2012. Bill Allenwas executed for murder in 1949. Why Cutpurse, trans herself, would use his female name in the book title is unclear.

Linda
Jucovy.
Searching for Calamity: The Life and Times of Calamity Jane. Stampede Books, 2012

Matt
Kailey. Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects.
Outskirts Press, 2012. More from the author of Just Add Hormones.

David
L. Kaufman. Untying the Knot: A Husband and Wife's Story of Coming Out Together.
Addicus Books, 2013. Mainly a story of a husband and wife both coming out as gay, and at the end David goes further and becomes Danielle. See also Obituaries: Danielle died this year.

Michelle
Lynne Kosilek. Grace's Daughter.
Smashwords, 2012. The Massachusetts inmate who is suing to be allowed a gender change tells her own story.

Andrea Waddell. Sounds of the Soul: Adventures in Time Scribbulations, 2013. Andrea was
murdered in Brighton in 2009.

Fiction

Tanya Allen.When I Count to Three.
Amazon Digital Services, 2013.

Steve Berry. The King's Deception. Hodder, 2012. A modern thriller around the idea
that the Bisley Boy was Elizabeth Tudor. Article.
GVWW.

Imogen Binnie. Nevada.
Topside Press, 2013. "a young trans woman living in New York City and trying to stay true to her punk values while working retail."

PR Ellis. Painted Ladies: A Jasmine Frame Story. Kibworth Beauchamp : Matador, 2013.
Article. Transvestites are being murdered. "Jasmine is asked to act as a decoy to draw the "tranny killer" to a
meeting in a pub. Jasmine is torn as she has to go against her instinct
as a pre-op transsexual to remain hidden. What response will she get
dressed as a flamboyant drag queen? Will it be enough to draw the killer
into the trap or is Jasmine just putting her own sense of identity to
the test?"

Rachel Gold. Being Emily.
Bella Books, 2012. "They say that whoever you are it’s okay, you were born that way. Those
words don’t comfort Emily, because she was born Christopher and her
insides know that her outsides are all wrong."

Renee James. Coming Out Can Be Murder. Chi-Towne Fiction, 2012. "The gutsy hairdresser is determined to live her “new” life
authentically, even as she is drawn into the investigation of her
brutally murdered friend."

Roz Kaveney. Reflections: Rhapsody of Blood, Volume 2. Plus One Press, 2013. Reviewers said that RITUALS was one of the most exciting fantasy debuts
of 2012. REFLECTIONS is its worthy successor. RITUALS also received
Honor List recognition for the 2012 James Tiptree Jr. Award, and was
shortlisted for the 2013 Crawford Award.

Armistead Maupin. The Days of Anna Madrigal. Harper, 2014. "follows one of modern literature’s most unforgettable and enduring
characters—Anna Madrigal, the legendary transgender landlady of 28
Barbary Lane—as she embarks on a road trip that will take her deep into
her past."

Alex Myers. Revolutionary.
Simon & Shuster, 2013. Based on the life of 18th
century trans man Deborah Sampson. Article.

Michael Quadland. Offspring.
Red Hen Press, 2012. " To add to Hank’s problems, his transgendered boss at the Strand Bookstore is in love with him."

Rae Spoon. First Spring Grass Fire. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2012.The first novel by the indie singer-songwriter. "a candid, powerful story about a young person growing up queer in a strict Pentecostal family in rural Canada."

Peter Joseph Swanson. Bad Movies. CreateSpace, 2013. "In the mid-70s, Jill, a
sex-change in denial, buses west with the hope of becoming a star".

Abigail Tarttelin. Golden Boy.
Atria Books, 2013. Article. " Max, an intersex individual living his life as a boy. He is turning 16
when his father, the local crown prosecutor, decides to run for
parliament."

Katie Herzog. "Based on Gerhard Richter’s 48 Portraits of men of letters (1972) and Gottfried Helnwein's response with 48 portraits of famous women (1992), my piece consists of 48 portraits of transgender men and women of letters." Herzog also aligns her project with Senate Bill 48 signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2011 requiring the inclusion of trans individuals in school textbooks.

After a trans woman was shot and robbed, and the attackers bragged and insulted the victim's gender, Lex and Terry, who are broadcast nationally by Clear Channel and Sirius XM, said, “There’s a teen that shot a tranny after finding out that it was a man ... I don’t blame him. I would have shot his ass too.” A week later they apologized. SiriusXM made it clear that it does not support the comments.

"The King Came Calling". Ripper Street, 1.3. BBC Andy Wilson (dir), with Matthew Macfadyen as Det Insp Edmund Reid, and Jonathan White as the madam. 5 men are dead of poisoning, and the police search for a common factor. One has a shaved body and legs, and a second has ingested sperm, which leads to a Molly House.

"The Face of Change". Grey's Anatomy, Feb 7 2013. ABC. Brian and Jess, a trans teen couple. Brian is having top surgery and his father arrives to protest, although later he gives Jess some money for the rent.

What Not to Wear. TLC feb 7. Casey D., a Philadelphia firefighter who transitioned 9 years ago, n seeks a wardrobe and make-over that reflects the confident woman she has become over the past nine years. Co-hosted by out fashion consultant and media personality, Clinton Kelly.

Adverts
The advert shows a woman who is so surprised by a sale item that she speaks with a male voice. The man she is with looks shocked and horrified. The last scene of the advert shows the man running away as the woman carries a box of flat-packed furniture by herself.
The letter from Thai Transgender Alliance demands that IKEA Global issue an official public statement about the advert.

Theatre
BB Gandanghari in a double role in a stage version of Kiss of the Spider Woman as both Molina (William Hurt in the film) and Irena the spiderwoman (Sonia Branag in the film).

Stu for Silverton, book by Peter Duchan, music and lyrics by Breedlove. Directed by Andrew Russell, with Mark Anders as Stu Rasmussen, Intiman Theatre, Seattle, 125 minutes.

A Kid Like Jake, written by Daniel Pearle, based on an article in New York Magazine re a trans boy. Lincoln Center Theater, New York.

Bambi. Sébastien Lifshitz (dir) with Marie-Pierre Pruvot. France 58 mins 2013. A documentary about the pioneer Le Carrousel performer, school teacher and novelist. IMDBWikipedia. Winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The Dallas Buyers Club. Jean-Marc Vallée (dir) Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack (scr) with Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof, Jared Leto as Rayon, Jennifer Garner as Dr Eve Saks. US 117 mins 2013. IMDBReviewTrailerWikipedia. Both McConaughey and Leto lost weight to portray AIDS sufferers, Leto went to the audition in character as trans woman Rayon and lived in character while filming. However no trans actors were auditioned; while the story is more-or-less true, Rayon is a composite; Rayon's friends refer to her as 'he'.

The Look of Love. Michael Winterbottom (dir) Matt Greenhalgh (scr) based on the book Members Only by Paul Willetts, with Steve Coogan as Paul Raymond. UK 101 mins 2013. You wouldn't realize if from the trailer, but Raymond was a pioneer in the 1970s in putting on fancy drag shows. IMDBTrailer

Namess Ba'geshem / Melting Away. Doron Eran (dir) Billy Ben-Moshe (scr) with Hen Yanni as Anna. Israel/Canada 86 mins 2011. A trans entertainer and the parents who locked her out of the home many years ago. IMDBTrailer. Wikipedia (IMDB does not say who played the teenage Assaf before she became Anna)

R.I.P.D. Robert Schwentke (dir) with Jeff Bridges and Marisa Miller as Roy Pulsipher. US 2013. A fantasy about undead cops. Pulsipher, although male uses a female avatar when interacting with living people. IMDBTrailer. Wikipedia.

Zanderology. Megan Rohrer (dir) with Zander Keig. An extension from the book Letters from my Brothers, 2012. "Zanderology is an illustrated documentary about Zander Keig, a transman who was born dead, paralyzed at age six, put in a mental hospital as a teen, was in a Mexican gang, joined the military, became an undercover drug officer, obtained three graduate degrees and is now a social worker for homeless veterans." A kickstarter project. Announced:
director Roland Emmerich is going to work on a new movie on the Stonewall’s riots of 1969.

X-Rated, Chad Darnell (dir & scr) with Willam Belli as Karen Dior, Rtan O'Connor as Chi Chi Larue.Through her Eyes. A new short film campaign, which is currently raising funds, and aims to give a different perspective on trans issues by showing discrimination, abuse, and her own thoughts. Financed by Kickstarter.

Miss Gay San Juan pageant at Tarapoto, Peru, erupted into a brawl when the wrong result was announced.

Raika Ferraz, who runs a thriving escort service, winner of Brazil's Miss T competition. She won an all-expenses-paid excursion to Thailand for the global version of the beauty contest, Miss International Queen 2014, plus the right to a sex change operation in a Bangkok hospital. Ferraz, however, demurred: “I love being the way I am,” she said.

Camilla Rose, who is also blind, was chosen by the Portland (Oregon) Folk Music Society as their featured artist for November and December 2013. The Oregonian Newspaper refused to a story on her, or to review her music.

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About Zagria

I have a social science degree. I spent several years in the 70s doing Gay Lib counselling, and moved on to organizing trans groups. I was rejected by the Clarke Institute (now CAMH) in the mid 1980s, probably because I do not match either of their stereotypes, but was accepted by Russel Reid on our first meeting in late 1987, and had surgery from James Dalrymple some months later. I have mainly worked as an IT consultant. I have been with the same husband for 45 years.